Hi folks, I think I better explain first then you will understand why Ive asked this question. In my spear time I do re-enactment as Luftwaffe aircrew, and this year I intend to concentrate on the Luftwaffe Nightfighter intruders over East Anglia. Now onto my question (before I go miss-leading the public) Im reading about the ill fated April 22nd 1944 Mission for the USAAF, when because of poor weather over the target takeoff was delayed….and of course the return home was a slaughter..My question is therefore quiet simple. Were the USAAF not trained in Night Flying?…..Any help in this matter would be most welcome..Gary
By: NIGHTFIGHTER - 16th March 2014 at 20:43
Thanks for the answers and the link guys, those poor ******s returning from that mission must have been scared witless against highly trained nightfighter crews. Well at lest now I can convey to joe public just what these guys went through…Again guys many thanks, Gary
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Me and MySon
By: Graham Boak - 15th March 2014 at 23:16
However much basic or even advanced training they had in night flying on an individual level, they did not work to retain their fluency, and had no training in operational flying at night.
By: tbyguy - 15th March 2014 at 23:06
Gary, if you haven’t already, I’d encourage you to examine the following link…especially p. 565ff
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/VI/AAF-VI-17.html
In a nutshell: Due to the exigencies of wartime, the three-tiered (Primary, Basic, Advanced) system of flight training was kept intact, but each level trimmed to only nine weeks of training. Night and instrument training was introduced and emphasized at the Basic level, but mastery of both wasn’t possible in the time allowed. The deficiency wasn’t really addressed until late in 1943, which means the combat pilots of early 1944 were still suffering the consequences of insufficient instruction.
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March 15, 2014 at 5:30 pm